Monday, January 30, 2012

Facts about Children's Phobia

Science and Medicines describe phobia as an irrational fear of a specific situation, activity or object. The phobia compels the sufferer to avoid whatever is feared because with it comes some of these following symptoms:

1. Anxiety
2. Rapid heartbeat
3.Sweating
4. Hot or cold flashes
5. Choking
6. Shaking
7. Dizziness, faintness
8.the need to flee the situation
9.Panic Attack

Children may express their anxiety by a) crying b) Clinging c) tantrums d) freezing in place.
Helpful tips in controlling your child's phobia
1. Teach your child to learn some simple relaxation techniques such as breathing exercise. This will help them to have control over the physical symptoms of his phobia. Teach him to learn controlled breathing. This controlled breathing is done by taking a few deep breaths and hold each one to the count of 3, they exhale slowly to the count of 3. This controlled breathing helps your child to restore normal breathing, slow his pulse and remedy his dizziness or shakiness.

Tension or stiffening can be lessen by doing tension control. This can be done by teaching your child how to relax by relaxing each muscles group like the arms, legs, neck , shoulders until the tension subside. Teach him to practice this by simply thinking  about relaxing these muscles.

If your child has a phobia of speaking in public, let him enroll in a public speaking class. If he is afraid of flying objects, let him enroll in a course that help him conquer the fear. 

See and consult a professional to help your child deal his phobia.
Most phobia are developed during childhood and as much as possible this phobia must be controlled in younger years to avoid further damage in adults life.

Here are some of the known phobia that may develop in early years
1. Acrophobia or fear of heights
2. Aracheophobia or fear of spiders
3. Asterophobia or fear of thunder
4. Ceraunophobia or fear of lightning
5.Claustrophobia or fear of enclosed spaces
6.Mysophobia or fear of dirt, germs
7.Ophidiophobia or fear of snakes
8.Nyctophobia or fear of darkness
9 .Pyrophobia or fear of fire
10. Xenophobia or fear of foreigners or strangers
11. Zoophobia or fear of animals

It is best to let your child know that he's not sick but what he's feeling can be abated and eventually controlled. Your care and support will make the control much faster and effective.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Diseases Brought by the cold seasons-Part III-Frostbite and Frostnips

Give your child proper body coverings when exposed to colds

Frostbite may look like an ordinary heat burn but it is actually some body tissues frozen and in severe cases "dead" caused by below zero temperature.Most often frostbite affect the toes, fingers, earlobes, chin and the tip of the nose.

Frostbite can be prevented by layering your clothes rather than wearing bulky clothing. Thin layers of clothing gives more warmth as thin layers of clothing create air spaces that trap body temperature close to the skin and act as insulation for the body against cold. It is also good to have your child wear 2 or 3 pairs of thin socks than the bulky one.

Lessen your alcohol intake and don't smoke. Alcohol causes the body to lose heat quickly smoking slows down blood circulation. to the extremities.

Stay indoors as much as possible when it is very cold and windy.When your child have to go out, shield his face and other parts that can be exposed to cold and the wind.

When your child have been exposed to cold temperature, check for the following:

1. Skin that swells and feels hard and solid
2. Loss of function and absence of pain when pinched hard
3.Skin color changing from white to red to purple
4.presence of blisters
5. Slurred speech and
6. confusion

When all of these are present  the following self care tips may help.

1.If the your child does not respond, do the CPR
2. Get him out of the cold and into a warmer place
3.Remove wet clothing and tight clothing
4.Warm the affected area by soaking it a tub of warm water and antiseptic. Water temperature should be between 101 and 104 Fahrenheit.
5.Don't rub it with snow or soak it in cold water
6.Stop the soaking when the are becomes red(soaking should be 45 minutes and when done too fast, thawing may be painful and blister may appear.
7.If warm water is not available,put the frozen part in warm blanket or in warm body parts such as under the armpit and abdomen
 8. Keep the affected area elevated but properly protected
9.Never rub or massage frostbitten areas
10.Don't break blister.

If the symptoms persist, call for help and seek medical assistance.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Protect your kids from diseases brought by the cold season-part 2- Flu or Influenza

Let your child have plenty of rest and drink lots of fluids

Flu or seasonal influenza comes during fall and winter months or during the wet seasons in tropical areas. Flu affects the nose,throat,breathing tube and the lungs. Flu is caused by certain viruses which varies each year. It is picked up by hand-to-hand contact of the virus or by breathing in air droplets that contain the virus.

Prevention includes getting a flu vaccine. If your doctor had advised you to have, it is better to do so. This could be your children 's single best protection from catching the virus. You can also ask your doctor for any anti viral medicines that can prevent some strains of flu viruses. Have your children get plenty of rest, eat well and have a daily active activities as their exercise.

Most of the time self-care treats flu. Taking an over-the-counter viral medicine can help minimized the symptoms and make them milder. But refrain from using antibiotics as these will not treat flu viruses.

Symptoms includes sore throat, slight fever, running nose, wet eyes and fatigue

Here's some simple self-care tips to treat Flu


·        Have your child rest and drink plenty of fluids
·        Have him gargle with warm water with 1/4 teaspoon of salt or 1 tablespoon of mouthwash
·        Don't suppressed cough that brings up mucus but instead give your child  over-the-counter cough syrup with guifenesin
·        Tell your child to wash hands often especially after blowing the nose and before handling foods to prevent spreading the virus


But signs such as feeling confused, with little urine, sunken eyes and dry skin that will not spring back after pitching may indicate sings of dehydration and needs doctor's attention.Flu can also lead to some fatal diseases such as Meningitis. It is best to monitor your child's condition often and seek professional help when needed.

Remember that self-care is only done in treating flu with milder symptoms. It is a general rule that when symptoms persist and getting worse, it is time to see and consult your doctor.


Thursday, January 5, 2012

Protect your child from common diseases brought by the Cold season

your child may have slight fever when her throat is swollen

The cold season comes with the holiday and with lots of merry-makings your children can be exposed to common diseases brought by the cold season. One of them is Laryngitis which happen when your larynx or voice box is irritated or swollen.

Here are the common signs to look out for laryngitis:


  • Hoarse,husky or weak voice
  • Cough
  • Sometimes there is no pain but most of the time you get sore throat
  • fever
  • difficulty in swallowing


What to do when your child is having laryngitis:


  • Let him rest his voice. Refrain from talking and write notes instead
  • Make your child drink a lot of fluids. Make him drink warm drinks such as weak tea with lemon
  • Make him gargle every few hours with salt water. This can be done by mixing 1/4 teaspoon of salt in 1 cup warm water
  • Make him seat in the bathroom while running hot water in the shower and let him breathe the moist air
  • Give him cough drops, throat lozenges or hard candy but don't give these on children under 5
  • You may give him over-the -counter medicine for pain as directed on the label


Remember that Laryngitis is caused by irritants like smoke and smug so brace your child from smoke and second hand smoke.Refrain him from straining his voice and stay away from crowded places to avoid viral and bacterial infections.

The cold season is one of the most anticipated season of the year but if you are not careful, it may bring diseases associated with it. So the best thing to do is to have protection and stay away from getting infected.

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